


All Wound Up

by skyestar7703



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gakuhou's A+ Parenting, Gakushuu as Rapunzel, Gen, Karma as the rouge dumb enough to climb his tower, Multi, Tangled AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyestar7703/pseuds/skyestar7703
Summary: In hindsight, stealing the crown of the missing Prince might not have been one of Karma's best ideas. Nor was climbing a seemingly abandoned wizard's tower to get away. Now he's got a strange blond boy with an even stranger secret following him around and upending everything he thought he knew about his life. If only he wasn't so damn likeable.(Aka the Karashuu Tangled AU, because they deserve it.)
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Shiota Nagisa, Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu, Irina Jelavić/Karasuma Tadaomi, Other pairings may apply
Comments: 19
Kudos: 108





	All Wound Up

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back everyone!
> 
> This won't be nearly as long as Ghosted, but it's all planned out and is going to be a ton of fun to write. I hope you enjoy!

Karma’s not sure if he would call himself a criminal, per say. A thief, sure. A general maker of mischief and mayhem, absolutely. But the thing about being close with the king and queen, as well as some higher ups in their royal court, is that Karma’s actions have always been treated as more of a funny nuisance than anything else. 

That’s not to say King Tadaomi and Queen Irina aren’t harsh on most lawbreakers. Since the original High King went mad with dark power before Karma was even born, once Tadaomi took over he had to make sure outlaws knew he would not be any more lenient than his once-sane brother had been. And after the disappearance of their nephew, certain laws have only gotten more strict. 

But growing up in and around the royal palace means that Karma knows the place and its people like the back of his hand, just as they know him equally well. It’s a game of sorts, to see what he can take without anyone noticing, to see how long he can evade the guard before they catch him. Sometimes he even brings a few friends along on his escapades. Like now, for instance. 

“Are you sure about this? It seems like a pretty easy way to get caught.” Muramatsu leans over the edge of the roof, looking up at the castle.

“Relax, I’ve got a plan. We’ll be in and out with no one the wiser,” Karma assures him. “Just follow what I say, and it’ll all be fine.”

“I doubt that.” Terasaka rolls his eyes. “We all know you, you bastard. You _like_ getting noticed. It’s fun for you. At least don’t lie to us if that’s your game plan.”

Karma places a hand on his chest in mock offence. “Me? Lie? Oh, ye of so little faith. Then again, I don’t really expect an idiot like you to get it.” Terasaka’s always been fun to string along for the ride. He’s less of a brute than he used to be, but he and his gang are some of the last members of their friend group not to have settled down into some official job or apprenticeship, meaning they’re the only ones who will go on heists with Karma anymore. (Unlike a certain someone.)

Oh well. At least they’re good for a bit of muscle. Karma pushes aside thoughts of his and Nagisa’s latest argument and beckons his co-conspirators forwards.

If there was one thing they all had in common, it was the knowledge of how to traverse rooftops without falling or hurting themselves. They had all learned from some of the best, after all. And jumping and climbing across the castle walls and towers was as easy as breathing at this point. 

They reach the intended rooftop windows, and Muramatsu readies the rope. While the two work, Karma pauses to take in the view, noting the extra patrols scattered across the ground.

It makes sense of course, considering the anniversary of the Crown Prince’s disappearance was so near. As exciting as the festivals always were, security was always far tighter around this time. All the more reason to steal said prince’s crown now. The higher stakes made it more exciting, after all. 

“Ready?” Muramatsu holds up the rope. 

Karma grins and ties it around his waist. “You know, it seems like I’m always doing the heavy lifting around here. Maybe we should drop Terasaka down as a cushion, just in case?”

“Another word, and I’ll drop _you_ ,” Terasaka growls. Karma laughs him off and lets himself be lowered down through the window. 

There are more guards inside, all of them thankfully staring dutifully at the doors to the room, rather than at the crown itself. Karma reaches the crown undetected and snatches it up without a sound, placing it carefully in his satchel. The guards don’t notice a thing. One of them even sneezes. 

Karma can’t help himself then. “Hayfever? Really sucks at this time of year.” He tugs at the rope to let them know he was ready to come up. By the time the guards notice it was a thief who had spoken, he’s back on the rooftop, and the three of them are on the run. 

“You just had to lie, didn’t you?” Terasaka yells, as the bells ring out all around them. They scale down the castle walls and make their way towards the outskirts of the kingdom. “You can’t keep your damn mouth shut!”

“Seriously, this is big.” Muramatsu frowns as they run. “Different from taking some trophies. We’ll be okay, sure, but you might be in big trouble for this. They’ll know it was your idea, after all.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Karma can’t help but grin. “What’s life without a little excitement, after all?” He savors Terasaka’s groan. 

This was the most exciting part of any heist after, all: the chase. Sure, trying not to get caught was fun, but it honestly got kinda boring after a while. Karma was just too good for most of those guards to catch him. But once he was out, they needed to send more experienced people, sometimes even his own friends, to catch him, and trying to escape still gave him the thrill he was looking for.

They had started to bother less recently, like Karma wasn’t worth their time or effort. But this is the lost Prince’s crown he has on him. Only the finest would be sent to track that down. 

Maybe even Nagisa would be there. 

The three pause in the woods to catch their breath, and Karma takes the chance to look back. Sure enough, the sound of hoof steps preceded the arrival of the guard. Karma searched their ranks and - _there_. On his black horse named Koro was Nagisa. Their eyes meet, Karma takes note of his friend’s disapproving frown, and he turns and takes off, Terasaka and Muramatsu behind him. 

They keep running, until they’re met with a cliff too high for even them to scale over on their own, or even with one other person. 

Good thing they had three. Karma turns to his friends. “Quick, give me a boost.”

Muramatsu raises an eyebrow. “You’re going to leave us behind like that?”

“They’ll just go after me, won’t they?” Karma defends. “No one will even know you two were a part of this, and you won’t get in trouble. That’s just what you want, right? To have a bit of fun without damaging your potential to get your shop?”

Muramatsu looks hurt, and Terasaka glares at him, but they all know it’s true. Muramatsu would be taking over his family’s shop soon, which meant no more fun and lots of responsibilities for him. 

“We’ll give you the damn boost.” Terasaka says shortly. “But don’t expect everyone to be there for you in the future. Korosensei is gone, and the time for heists and criminal activities is over. You’re the only person who doesn’t seem to have gotten the message. Everyone else will have moved on soon, and you’ll still be running around stealing trinkets like a brat.”

Karma shuts out his words. Yes, they’re sixteen now and expected to start doing real work. Yes, everyone has moved on from their old tutor. Karma’s always been a genius, he’s always known that. 

But there’s no job someone like _him_ , an orphan of disgraced nobles with no status and no more family line, can take that attracts him. Nothing comes close to the thrills they got learning under their old teacher. Karma’s going to hold onto that as long as he can. 

He secures the satchel around his shoulder, and the other two give him the boost, sending him over the top of the cliff. Karma pauses to catch his breath. 

The horses are after him now, and so Karma takes a narrower route through the trees knowing only one horse would be able to make it through. Sure enough, as he leaps over twisted branches, he hears a familiar horse clopping towards him.

“Karma!” Nagisa yells from on top of Koro. “What are you doing?”

Karma flashes him a grin. “What I’m best at of course! You should seriously up your security. It must be pretty shoddy if someone can steal this thing so easily.” He tries to keep his breathing even as he runs.

Nagisa makes a face. With Nagisa’s skills, he had easily been accepted into Kunugigaoka’s special guard, sent to face some of the kingdom’s far more dangerous threats. Maybe Karma could’ve gotten in as well, but it had been too hard, watching Nagisa pass without trying after working so hard just to reach his friend’s baseline of skill.

And yet here they were, Karma the brat getting the upper hand on the oh-so-special guardsman. As Nagisa rode forward, Karma jumped upwards, using a tree vine to swing around and knock Nagisa off his horse. 

“Sorry!” He calls back, grinning all the while. “I’ll be back with it before the festival, don’t worry.” He flicks at Koro’s reins. “Come on, let’s go.” 

But Nagisa was barely out of sight before the black horse stops moving, and stubbornly refuses to go any further. Then Koro turns around and tries to snap the satchel right out of Karma’s hands. They toss and turn, Karma trying to keep it away, and Koro trying to get it.

“Stupid horse, what the hell?” Karma mutters, as the horse keeps trying. “How do you even know to want this thing?” 

So focused is he on the strange horse that he doesn’t notice when they reach the edge of the cliff. It isn’t until Koro’s hooves slip off the sides and Karma is tumbling away from him does he realize how thoroughly he might’ve messed up.

He hits the ground hard. If it wasn’t for his training, he might’ve been hurt a lot worse, but it seems to be only minor bruises. Karma gets to his feet, hears Koro whinnying in the distance, decides he doesn’t feel like dealing with Nagisa’s weirdo horse in the slightest, and slips into the cave behind him, which is covered by ivy.

He quickly realizes that what he thought was a cave was in fact a tunnel, and so he presses on through, emerging into a strange and beautiful clearing he was positive he didn’t see from the other side. 

It’s tucked in between the mountains, with many trees, rolling hills, a waterfall that leads into a river, and a large tower in the middle, with only a window at the top to get inside.

_Now that’s a good place to hide out for a day or so until everything blows over. Then I can return the crown and we’ll all have a good laugh._

(Maybe they would finally recognize Karma as someone who mattered again.) 

Karma knows the stories of strange towers like these. Wizard’s Towers, they call them, where those with massive amounts of supernatural powers reside and study their craft. But the only wizard in Kunugigaoka that Karma’s ever heard of was the old King, and he’s been gone for nearly sixteen years. So this place must be abandoned, and thus, the perfect hiding spot. 

He grabs two arrows from his bag and uses them, as well as the ivy growing on the sides of the tower, to scale the walls with ease. Another reason there must not be a wizard living here - wizards would protect their towers with spells, right? He reaches the window and hauls himself inside, slamming it shut behind him. 

Karma takes the satchel off and feels the contents inside. The crown is in perfect condition of course. He figured it would take a lot more than that to damage it. 

At least now he finally has a moment to catch his breath. 

There’s movement behind him. Karma turns to catch a glimpse of purple eyes and strawberry hair before a heavy book hits him and everything fades to black.

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins. 
> 
> In case anyone was curious, in this world, while Korosensei was clearly a figure, and important in their lives, no equivilant of the Civil War arc happened, and so the resentment between Karma and Nagisa continued to fester. Not everything was resolved before their teacher had to leave their lives. What fun would it be if all the character development was complete before the AU even started, after all? 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, let me know what you liked!


End file.
